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About What's happening. (Eugene, OR) 1982-1993 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1986)
.7 Valentine's Day Origins, Customs by Deborah McGee A man wondering if a current mate is The One" need only wear a bachelor's but ton on Valentine's Day. If the flower dies, he should continue his search. Five bay leaves pinned to her pillow St. Valentine's night will bring a woman dreams of her true love. Thus sayeth two of the customs tied to the Feb. 14 folk festival. For some it is the Feast Day of St. Valentine, patron saint of lovers. One source mentioned the useful ness of chanting this name when suffering from "epilepsy, the Plague, or fainting spells." Another interesting custom remains in this festival's chronicles. In bygone days, people also would divine their true mates on St. Valentine’s Day by placing candi dates' names on pieces of paper. Then one rolled the papers in clay and dropped these tokens into water. The first to rise to the surface was said to be that of your most auspicious partner. In Denmark the holiday is "Fjortende Fe bruar," a time when school children ex change trinkets. For Bulgarians it is Trifon Zarezan," or Viticulturists Day, in honor of that twinkle-eyed god of wine and merri ment, Bacchus. No wonder Valentine's Day colors are mostly red, white and rose! Mysterious Roots Some may think the celebrations began with the greeting card companies, but the origins of Valentine's Day are as mysterious as love itself. In Chaucer's Parliament of Foules we find the earliest literary reference to the holiday: For this was Seynt Valentine's Day, When every foul cometh ther to choose his mate. So at least since the Middle Ages popular belief has held that birds begin mating on this date. Perhaps earlier humans, feeling similar urges, linked their own celebrations to those of the earth's feathered inhabitants. Historically the festival probably is a di rect descendant of the early Romans' Feb. 15 Feast of Lupercalia. As part of the festi vities, priests sacrificed goats in the Palatine Hill's Lupercal Cave, said to be the site where a wolf nursed to life the orphaned Romulus and Remus (purported founders of the Eternal City). Once sacrifices and ablutions were per formed, priests fashioned whips from the goats' hides. Smearing their foreheads with the goats' blood, the men struck people with the whips. The purpose was to stimu late the fertility of those so touched, as well as to ease labor pains for women already pregnant. Another early account of the feast day re calls that priests dropped papers bearing the names of eligible Roman women into clay urns. Eligible men then drew names of part ners and the chase was on. . . . Roman deities Juno and Pan were Luper calia's patron celestials, Juno being goddess of marriage and wife of Jupiter, king of gods; Pan, or Lupercus, was the frequent sidekick of Venus, goddess of love. All these connections point to a pre-Christian origin of the holiday, which perhaps ex plains why we often omit the word “saint" when referring to the festivities. Christians and Critics In the era of the early Christians, the holiday seems to have made the shift in dates, from celebration of Lupercalia on Feb. 15 to a Feb. 14 feast day in memoriam to one Saint Valentine. Martyrology has documented that a man of this name was beheaded on Feb. 14, 269 A.D., upon Roman Imperial orders, for refusing to de nounce his belief in Christ. Popular myth has it that during his imprisonment, he fell in love with his jailer's daughter and mira culously cured her of blindness. The story goes that when he was about to lose his head, he penned a farewell note to his beloved signed, "From your Valentine." Apparently this February holiday oc casioned the wrath of certain establish ments. One reference mentioned that St. Francis de Salis became so enraged at the lusty lottery's prevalence into Christian times that he ordered a change in the rules of the game. Under the guidance of De Salis, boys drew names of saints — rather than men drawing names of women. The boys then strove to emulate the qualities of the saint so chosen. Record has it that people resisted the change and soon the original rules again prevailed. Another critic was Britain's Oliver Crom well. In the time of King Henry VIII, Crom well termed the holiday "immoral and irre ligious" and banned it, but by the reign of Charles II (1630-85), people had revived the celebration. At the latter time it was popu lar to exchange performed gloves and jewel ed garters. Cards Become Popular While the death-row musings of St. Va lentine may have been the first Valentine's Day message, it was the advent of the print ing press which stimulated the widespread exchange of greeting cards this time of year. Paper valentines first appeared in 16th Cen tury England. Commercial versions began circulating after 1800, an industry boosted in America by the organization of the postal system. In 1830, an enterprising American woman founded a business on the valentine trade. Daughter of a merchant who im ported valentines, Esther Howland started her own offshoot: that of importing laces and fine papers, with which she created va lentines. Today these "Worcester" valen tines are collector's items. Our less consumer-oriented forebears tended to make valentines by hand. People penned original verses in decorative scroll, and glued paper lace, shiny trinkets and other memorabilia into what are almost mini-collages, all custom-made for objects of their love. The Lane County Historical Museum has an antique valentine collection and displays it some years (not 1986). Hand-made valen tines, and early commercial cards with pop up and moveable parts, grace their hold ings. Two of the most unusual cards are formed of several nearly-identical cut-outs, each printed with succeeding parts of a verse; silk ribbons link the parts together to form one card. Most fascinating in the local collection, however, is a group of postcards from the earlier part of this century. They are solici tations as bold as today's "Personal' classi fied ads! One shows a black and white photo of a man doing laundry. “Wanted! A Girl Here," reads its message. Another such postcard holds only these words: I am single. My hair is all my own. I never stay out late. Am of marriageable age and disposition, and my parents have tired of supporting me. What are you going to do about it? The latter card was printed by the Guard Printing Co., Eugene. The more things change. . . . Oregon, a Romeo and the Mafia We Oregonians have further cause to commemorate St. Valentine's Day. On this date in 1859, we became the 33rd state in the Union. As a further aside, the name of this holi day may conjure up in certain minds the image of matinee idol Rudolph Valentino. Nicknamed "the perfect lover," the star's real name actually did have Valentina in it. He died of a ruptured ulcer while in New York City for a 1926 opening of The Son of Sheik. Fans loved him so much they lined up for 11 blocks to view his body. Not everything about this date, however, connotes love. In Chicago, on Feb. 14, 1929, members of "Scarface" Al Capone's armed guard murdered seven members of a rival gang. The St. Valentine's Day Mas sacre has become an established date in American history. VALENTINE'S DAY TRIVIA QUES TION: What is the most spectacular valen tine on record? One sent by comedian Garry Moore, who hired four planes to do skywriting for his wife. They etched a heart three miles wide pierced by an arrow six miles wide, and wrote "Garry & Nell" in its center. The moon goes into earthy Taurus in the wee hours of the 14th. Will you wear your heart on your sleeve that day, or play hard to-get? Are you going to the WOW Hall or Mac Court? Planning a candlelit evening for two or turning early to bed? Whatever you do, you won't be able to ignore the per sistence into modern times of this pagan rooted holiday. Introductory offer for the NEW CENTER FOR MASSAGE THERAPY Save $25!! on a MASSAGE PACKAGE: 5 1-hour massages for $110 (reg. 27.00 per hour) We accept insurance and doctor’s referrals. Nina Cherry, Director 388 West 10th • 485-8090 a Valentines Day—February 14 Most romantic restaurant in Oregon 99 Oregon Magazine DNODI IGR OAPD 754 E. 13th • 342-6963 CAFE’ • RESTAURANT • BAR The city‘s best restaurant. Join the Valentine’s Weekend Fun— Backstage Dancewear II W Broadway the Cloak Room 931 Oak Ellen's Inside Steven J. 941 Oak Favors 845 Willamette Feminine Fancies Thursday, Friday & Saturday in Downtown Eugene V More quality specialty shops & services V More individual attention a V More unique styles, selection _ tg 11 p. DOWNTOWN SHOPS AA UPTOWN STYLE! I BP Leah's Wine & Co. Corner of 7th & Willamette. Parcade London Hair Studio 770 Willamette Marley’s 187 E. Broadway Melange 39 W Broadway Town & Travel Just east of the Fountain _ And to celebrate Valentine's Day: T Free flowers at each of these participating shops—visit all 10 and collect a bouquet! Refreshments and special drawings at each location 25% discount on your choice of any single regular priced item. Just clip the red heart in this ad and show it at each shop when you make your purchase. I This heart worth 25% off any single item at the 10 Valentine shops sle ——nmgssmam T DOWNTOWN This is a great < hance Io sec all that’s new for spring and enjoy our dique spifit1
